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The Prison Service is failing to meet the specialist health, social and rehabilitation needs of older prisoners, says a new report by the Prison Reform Trust.

The report encourages the Prison Service to focus more on social care provision, develop appropriate education and rehabilitation programmes, and look at the specific resettlement needs of older prisoners, who now number over 1,200.

It reveals that more than 80 per cent of elderly prisoners have a longstanding chronic illness or disability, more than half suffer from a mental disorder, and many have no family or community links.

- Growing Old In Prison from www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk